Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) announced today that he will be running for president in 2016. To celebrate this announcement, people in over 60 cities throughout the United States will come together for a karaoke celebration dubbed "#LibertyKaraoke."
#LibertyKaraoke began a few years ago as a "casual weekly gathering of pro-liberty activists in the D.C. area," according to event organizer and karaoke extraordinaire Matt Hurtt, in an interview with Townhall. During the 2014 campaign cycle, the event was turned into a fundraiser for liberty-minded candidates such as Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), and raised over $20,000.
While tonight's events are free to attend and are not serving as fundraisers for Rand Paul's campaign, attendees are encouraged to donate if they wish.
This is the first #LibertyKaraoke event to go nationwide, and events will be held everywhere from Boston to San Diego. Hurtt said that while he reached out to his network of liberty activists asking if they'd be willing to host an event in their city, roughly half of the events came into being organically.
"People wanted to host these in their cities," explained Hurtt.
Hurtt hopes that unusual and non-traditional political events like #LibertyKaraoke will serve as a way for young people to get involved with politics, as it's a "fun way to get engaged in the process."
Attendees to tonight's events are encouraged to share photos, Vines, etc. using the hashtag #LibertyKaraoke.